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Saturday, February 22, 2014

Knicks Suffer Devastating Loss to Magic In Double-OT

The Knicks have added yet another disappointing loss to this disappointing season in a game they probably should have won. Tonight the Magic joined the list of teams with poor records to hand the Knicks a loss, winning 129-121 in double-overtime. With the loss the Knicks have fallen 4.5 games behind in the race for eighth place in the Eastern Conference. The Knicks have lost seven of their last nine games with bad losses to the Milwaukee Bucks, Sacramento Kings and now the Magic part of them. The Knicks playoff chances are slipping away with every passing loss as they continue losing close games they should come out ahead in. The Knicks will be back at it tomorrow night in Atlanta to face the Hawks as they finish up their four games in five nights stretch.

Player of the Game: Carmelo Anthony

David Manning/USA TODAY Sports

Anthony did everything he could to get the Knicks a victory tonight but once again it was just not enough. Tonight he continued his scoring barrage, pouring in a game-high 44 points on 16-28 from the field. Anthony was on fire from deep, going 6-10 and making 6-7 from the foul line. At one point he even made nine straight shots as he was on fire. The Magic even started sending double and even triple teams at him but there was no stopping him. Anthony also added 11 rebounds, four assists and one steal to round out his stat line. Anthony also played 50 minutes tonight, which raises the questions of how he will perform tomorrow night with such a quick turnaround. He is doing everything he can to get the Knicks wins and they just keep coming up short. Knicks fans should sit back and just soak in what Anthony is doing recently and throughout the season as he could easily be doing this for another team next season.

-Positives

With the trade deadline passing Thursday, Raymond Felton finally can be at rest with where he is going to be the rest of the season. Tonight he played quite possibly his best game of the season, scoring 15 points, handing out eight assists, grabbing eight rebounds and playing decent defense with one steal and two blocks. He neutralized Magic starting point guard Jameer Nelson, who finished with three points, four assists and three rebounds. Felton has struggled mightily throughout the season with trade rumors swirling and injuries taking their toll, but he looked as good as he has all season tonight. If Felton is able to get things turned around it would help the Knicks immensely, especially with Iman Shumpert now sidelined.

David Manning/USA TODAY Sports

The perimeter shooting tonight for the Knicks was on point. They were efficient from the three point line all game and used that as the vocal point of their offensive attack. For the game the Knicks shot 15-34 from deep, good for 44.1 percent. Anthony led the way with six makes, while Pablo Prigioni and Tim Hardaway Jr. each made three. Through three quarters they Knicks shot 53 percent from the field and looked to be in control of the game.

The defense through the first three quarters of the game was solid. The point total was a little high at 79, but the Knicks had held the Magic to 40 percent shooting. They went into the fourth quarter up seven points and looked like they were well on their way to their second consecutive victory.

-Negatives

The fourth quarter and overtime were polar opposites for both teams from the first three quarters. The Knicks shooting percentage dropped to 47.4 percent as the offense began to stall at times and Anthony was routinely bailing them out. On the other hand the Magic’s shooting percentage rose all the way to 49.9 percent as the Knicks could not get needed stops. The Knicks went up by four points with under two minutes remaining and were unable to slow the Magic down no matter what they tried. The Knicks have lost games like this all season because they cannot lock down defensively consistently enough when they need to.

David Manning/USA TODAY Sports

The perimeter defense is usually the problem for the Knicks, but tonight they had trouble stopping the Magic from anywhere on the court. Tobias Harris, the Long Island native, was manned with guarding Anthony throughout the night. He lost his cool a little early in the game but locked in later and finished with 22 points on 7-11 from the field. Rookie Victor Oladipo destroyed the Knicks throughout the night, finishing one rebound short of a triple-double to go along with 30 points and 14 assists. Arron Afflalo, whose name was a part of some rumors before the trade deadline, hurt the Knicks as well scoring a team high 32 points along with three rebounds and assists.

Plays that would have changed with just a little more attention to detail tonight could have turned the game into a Knicks win. The first one came at the end of regulation, when Anthony stepped on the sideline while dribbling to the right corner for his patented pull-up jump shot. Harris stuck with him and needs to be given some credit for the defense he played. The other play came in overtime, when Tyson Chandler attempted to throw down a reverse dunk off an alley-oop pass from Felton and the ball didn’t make it through the basket as it hit off his head. The Knicks have proved time and time again this season that they do not possess the mental fortitude and attention to detail to pull out close games and they showed it once again tonight.